Everton v United: Rooney, Chicharito to help repair broken hearts

October 28, 2011

In the words of the gaffer it’s time to “kick-on” following last week’s Derby loss to City and get back to what United know best – winning.

United face a trip to Goodison this weekend to take on David Moyes’ Everton, and Sir Alex has challenged Wayne Rooney to lead the fight back from the sides derby mauling by putting his old club to the sword.

If the stats are anything to go by then the game represents a good opportunity for United to bounce back and bag all three points.

Since winning the first ever Premier League meeting the two sides, Everton have gone on to win just three of the other 37 encounters. United have triumphed on 28 occasions and there have been just six draws.

The bookies make United odds-on shots at 1.8 to enhance their excellent record against the Toffees, and that looks about right.

They have lost just one of their last 8 away games, and although Everton have lost just two of their last 15 games at home those losses have both come in the last four games.

Rooney, who was left out of the starting line-up in United’s 3-0 win over Aldershot in midweek, is sure to be fresh and eager to put one or two past his old club and he is not surprisingly favourite to break the deadlock and score first at a standout top price of 5.5 with Betfred.

He is an obvious starting point for anyone who bets in that market, along with Chicharito who can be backed at 6.5 with Betfred, Boylesports and Paddy Power.

However given that this is a tough away tie, a safer option is surely to back either in the anytime goal scorer markets.

Both are odds against with Rooney on offer at 2.2 with Betfred and Chicharito at 2.88 with Boylesports.

Given that a win by any score line will be welcomed by club and fans, I am not going to attempt to predict the score line in this one.

However given that United have worryingly kept just three clean sheets in their last 13 Premier League matches, I am going to suggest that the 1.8 on offer with bet365 for both sides to score is worth an interest.

125 Comments

Sandeep
Alright pal. Interesting Vida stat but I guess we all know how much we've missed him. If we can get a good run with a settled defence we will do ok in that department but just can't see Rio and tthe twins staying fit for long enough. If this is the case it leaves some big decisions to be made in personnel. If City had the desruptions we've had at the back this season I don't think they'd have coped too well either!

@rohan, Don't worry Fabio will get injured tomorrow paving the way for Fryers. :lol:

Before I get slaughtered, I absolutely adore the Twins and feel when they are both fit, they would make a great fullback pairing. But the keyword is "when they are both fit". Right now, this doesn't look like happening any time soon. It is all great that they are supremely talented, but how can we rely on two players who are obviously made of glass like they are. :?:

As for tomorrow, I don't care who plays. The XI that Sir Alex picks will have a point to prove. They will be representing Manchester United and anything less than 200% performance will be simply unacceptable.

@blalaji : i do like the twins myself. but doesn't anyone else feel fabio has regressed a bit since last year? as far as rafael is concerned.. he's great. he just needs to play with cotton wool wrapped around him.
tomorrow's eleven will send out a message.. what remains to be seen is whether the message is positive.
im pretty optimistic about tomorrow.. we generally take some time to get on with footy after a particularly bad result
case in point
liverpool 4 united 1
next week
fulham 2 united 0

i know morrison attitude hasn't been great but after his game against aldershot, you can imagine he wants more and knows where is priorities lies now which is working hard, have the right temperament and break into the team.

I honestly think if he is in team surrounded by experienced players then he can flourish, him and cleverly would bring imagination and creativity that we lack in the midfield, he'd bring a goal threat too but hey i think fergie wants introduce him gradually so that's ok.

Balaji
My sentiments exactly. Thats what I said on my previous post. You cant underestimate the importance of a settled back four. Just look at our past achivements and how well we've done when we've had the same 4 names on the team sheet week in week out. With Rio adding his name to the the list of regulars on the treatment table, Sir Alex has some big decisions to make in terms of how he is going to be able to role out a settled back 4 week in week out.

In order for Fabio to breath down Evra's neck, he has to be able to do it for 90 minutes week in week out. Sadly, he hasn't proved he can do that as of yet. That's why Evra has become undroppable. I am surprised Ferguson hasn't tried Evans at left back this season. Balaji summed it up for the twins quite well.

@willie

I thought exactly the same about Rooney, lol. Berba and Chicha to start tomorrow. ;)

Fabio has been beseted with niggling injuries not regressed, he still looks great going forward and has that brazilian flair, perhaps he needs to get extra stronger like his bro rafael who has hit the gym a bit, its debatable if both can hold the two full back berth, fryers is coming through for the left back slot so they both need to sharp up as real competition is coming.

@samuel : evra needs to sharp up more than the twins. the twins have age on their side. and talent. they just need to work out the fitness. evra is getting on now. i hope he does.. he was one true dependent defender in the horror injury crisis of 2009

I don't see it like that personally. He was one of our best at Anfield, so he didn't become crap in a week. On Sunday he made mistakes, just like the 12 others that played did. Vidic had similar horrible performances against Liverpool in the past.

Rohan 19 @ 15:30: "seriously hope pogba or morrison get a look in for the next few easier games."

I don't disagree - the schedule between now and Xmas is very favourable and UTD should be getting close to maximum points from those ten matches. Indeed, the match tomorrow is perhaps the most difficult one until the fixture list gets re-set.

SAF has a tendency to use the first half of the season to assess his squad and to determine who is on-the-up and who is declining. His plan is to be there - or thereabout - at the turn of the year and then to kick on as the winter turns into spring.

SO, with reference to Pogba, Morrison, and Zeki Fryers (!), it seems to me that these guys have a chance to get some first-team action and to impress TheGaffer. Surprisingly, in the case of Zeki Fryers, this window-of-opportunity seems to have arrived early but let's not forget that these three guys are about the age that Fabio/Rafael and Phil Jones were when they because first-team selections. For SAF, if you're good enough then you're old enough but when you get that opportunity then you have to grab it with both hands AND run with it.

Tomorrow's match - at the ungodly hour of 6:55 am in Toronto ! - is going to be a bit of trench warfare. I'd be surprised to see SAF not go with veteran, tried-and-true warriors - Vidic, Rio (!), Patrice Evra and ???in the defence; Michael Carrick, DarrenFletcherinho, ThreeLungPark, SirRyanGiggs, Nani, and TheWayneBoy in midfield/attack. After being torn apart so badly - and so often - by ManShitty, I'd imagine that these guys will be instructed to play it close-to-the-vest in the belief that, by the end of the match, quality-will-out.

Rohan - fair enough, evra used to be the only full back i felt could combine efficient solid defending with brilliant attacking, now i think his defending skills have been below par, maybe years of constant bombing up and down like a train are starting to catch up on him or maybe its poor form but he needs to snap out of it or he'll be replaced.

I agree both twins need to work on more fitness, the premier league is physically demanding so its no suprise injuries happen more and there is far more rotation than any other league, i think they're united's reincarnation of gary and phil but the brazilians are far more talented (no offence gary if you're reading this), i hope they both can stay fit and get a sustained and consistent amount of games in the team as their potential is high.

Costas - i don't think he has become crap due to one game and yes their were many architects responsible for that disaster of a performance but i just feel he is a confidence player, he started the season with a bang and was coming out with how he has changed, concentrated and went back to basis, everything was going smoothly and then bang it all comes down crashing, will he be affected? I hope not but time will tell plus we don't know if sir alex will be punishing players, he'll in the firing line as wel, we can't hide from that fact...

Ah, well that's really a debatable point and something only he can answer. I've seen plenty of fans speculate the same. About how his confidence will take a hit after a bad performance. Probably because he went through a run of bad games at the start of last season. But he's a peculiar case. I mean, the same guy that got picked apart by Carlton Cole last November, was solid against Liverpool at OT a month later. So hopefully he's learning to deal with setbacks.

like some above. i doubt rooney starting tomorrow. but then again benching him for liverpool and everton raises question marks over his temperament .. so can't say what 11 we'll play with.
ashley young might yet play tomorrow. i hope he does. we can always play park against ottetul.
tomorrow's game is gonna once again be a midfield battle.
cleverly's return gives some confidence. hope he pairs with carrick.
lookin forward to drawing city in the league cup QF....
the draw starts with our match rite??

@denton thankfully time difference in india is such that i can watch all the games without having to stay up or get up early in your case..
that might change though as i might shift to canada next year

id start BERBATOV over chicarito any day of the week!!! he is simply different class...born to play football...ball is glued to his feet!!! he really is world class and a much better technical player than the little pea. there both different but for me, hernandez is better suited to coming off the bench.

Manchester United matches attract almost 52 per cent of the Premier League’s entire global TV audience according to exclusive Sportingintelligence analysis of the latest industry data and separate internal United figures prepared by independent experts.

This highlights how important United are to the league, and the weight of any theoretical claim they might have to a greater share of the Premier League’s TV riches.

There is no suggestion United want a greater share of TV cash.

They have not floated the idea, unlike Liverpool’s Ian Ayre, who attracted massive criticism recently for doing do. He clarified that Liverpool wanted more money from collective sales, not to sell their own overseas TV rights.

Sources close to United’s owners insist they abide by collective rights selling and also by the principle that a league that broadly splits its income is a stronger league.

Separate data prepared for United by independent consultants puts United’s global cumulative TV audience for a season at 2.424bn people – or equivalent to 51.8 per cent of the Premier League total.

Like what some of you guys said earlier, i don't care who starts, any team we put out has to show our mettle. Nonetheless, I'm hoping we give some lads who played against Aldershot a reward by starting them tomorrow. They deserve it, sorry guys i'm still reeling, disappointed with our team that started last sunday. It's time to bring on the hardworking ones. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying the lads who played shitty were not, but i'm referring hardworking as the ones whom we often take for granted. Like Carrick, Park, Berba, Owen. Really do hope Clev and Carrick get paired in the middle tomorrow. As for the top, it's quite daft if we're gonna be putting Rooney on the bench, but i do want to see the Berbs playing tomorrow. I've got a feeling it might actually be Rooney and Berba up front. With the little pea on the bench.